Weak story, but ‘Sherlock Holmes’ fun and exciting

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jnr, Jude Law, Mark Strong, Rachel McAdams

Cert: 12

Ritchie claws back the ground lost to some pretty dire previous films with this action-packed, modernised tale involving the world’s greatest detective, Holmes (Downey), and his bumbling sidekick Dr Watson (Law).

The emphasis here is on modernised – even though it is set in Victorian London – for this is a ‘new’ Holmes tale that Doyle fans will not recognise, made strictly for today’s audiences and laced with moments of comic relief.

Indeed, the story is weak and predictable – having rescued a young woman from the clutches of evil Lord Blackwood (Strong) and seen him hang, our heroes must resume their chase when he returns from the grave to threaten life as we know it – saved by the energy expended in bringing us a film that is fun and exciting to watch.

Downey joins a long list of stars who have played Holmes and he makes a decent fist of it while Law merely delivers a passable rendering of the faithful Watson as a sort of minor supporting clown.

Star Rating: 3/5